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discussed in biography

Demosthenes was already 30 when, in 354, he made his first major speech before the Assembly. The speech, “
On the Navy Boards,” was a marked success. The Assembly or Ecclesia (Ekklēsia), a legislative body composed of all adult male Athenian citizens, had convened to consider a rumoured threat against Athens by the King of Persia. Demosthenes’ tightly reasoned oration helped...